Flower container



.[vezfaz 12/0/29 if! A4414 Patented Mar. 31, 1942 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE FLOWER CONTAINER Buford W. Hall, Los Angeles, Calif.

Application April 23, 1940, Serial No. 331,151

Claims.

This invention relates to improvements in containers designed to receive flowers, such as for example, bouquets, corsages, and even individual blossoms, such as for example, camellias, gardenias, and begonia blossoms.

Florists have recognized the desirability of being able to market flowers by delivering them to the purchaser in a suitable container which will protect the flowers or blossoms during delivery. It has been proposed to deliver flowers by positioning them in a suitable wrapper or bag formed of transparent material such as Cellophane which permits the nature of the flowers to be readily seen therethrough and to a certain extent affords some protection. An objection to the use of the conventional Cellophane bag for this purpose is that the bag may be readily crushed and thus cause the flowers contained therein to be .crushed and bruised. The conventional Cellophane bag has a closed bottom made up of folding over various layers of the Cellophane. These superposed layers of Cellophane that form the bottom of the bag afford some stiffness tending to resist collapse of the bag at this point. However, the end walls of the bag are usually equipped with bellows folds to permit of their being stacked in a relatively small space and these bellows folds are such as to permit the end walls to readily collapse.

An object of the present invention is to provide an improved container designed to receive flowers comprising a Cellophane bag or its equivalent in which there is positioned a suitable stiff insert which holds the creased and consequently collapsible end walls of the bag against collapse and in extended position. In this way the nature of the flowers in the container can be readily seen through the transparent bag but danger of crushing or bruising is avoided by the presence of the insert.

Another object of the invention is to provide a flower container, the elements of which can be easily stored and stacked in a small space and flowers and which will effectively resist collapse and consequent crushing or bruising of the flowers even though a plurality of the filled containers are stacked one upon the other.

With the foregoing and other objects in view, which will be made manifest in the following detailed description and specifically pointed out in the appended claims, reference is had to the accompanying drawing for an illustrative embodiment of the invention, wherein:

Figure 1 is a perspective View of one form of the improved flower container illustrating the condition of the container just prior to its being closed;

Fig. 2 is a plan view of one form of insert that may be employed and is a plan view of that insert illustrated in Fig. l

Fig. 3 is a plan view of an alternative form of insert that may be employed;

Fig. 4 is a perspective view of another form of insert that may be employed; and

Fig. 5 is a plan view of still a further form of insert that may be used.

Referring to the accompanying drawing wherein similar reference characters designate similar parts throughout, I" generally designates a bag formed of Cellophane or like transparent material. While the construction of the bag may vary the bag employed is preferably of some conventional type that can be easily and cheaply manufactured in large quantities. This type of bag is generally characterized by having a bottom II formed by folding together the extensions of the sides and ends of the bag and sealing the folds together so that the bottom of the bag has multiple thicknesses. The end walls as well as the bottom wall of the bag are usually equipped with fold lines indicated at l2 and I3 so that the sides of the bag can be collapsed together to facilitate stacking and storing. The presence of these fold lines renders the end walls of the bag quite flexible in that these end walls are susceptible of collapsing or folding rather readily on the fold lines l2 and I3.

As a means of preventing such collapse or folding I employ a relatively stiff insert which may be of any of the types illustrated in Figs. 2 to 5, inclusive. In the form shown in Fig. 2 the insert consists of a section of cardboard, paper-board, or the like having a bottom 14 with which there are integral side panels or side walls indicated at I5, I6, I1, and I8. These side walls are defined from the bottom as by scoring lines IS.

The corners of the side walls are preferably rounded as shown. Corner flaps or corner folds between the adjacent edges of adjacent side walls are omitted because of the fact that their presence is to a large extent unnecessary.

In the use of the insert the 'side walls are folded upwardly to form a type of open-topped box which may receive the flowers or blossom as the case may be, and the insert then bodily pushed into the open mouth of the bag Ill. The

width of the bottom I4 is only slightly less than the width of the bag and the height of the side walls is but slightly less than the width of the end walls. With the insert thus positioned in the bag one side wall lies against the bottom ll of the bag. Two opposed side walls of the insert 7 lie against the inside of the end walls of the bag.

The remaining side wall of the insert is positioned inwardly of the mouth of the bag. In this way the bag is held in fully extended condition by the insert while the blossom may be viewed through the bag. Thus, on closing the mouth of the bag and sealing the same such as by stapling the insert effectively prevents the bag from collapsing and crushing or bruising the contained flowers.

In some instances the surface of the insert is merely equipped with a bright ornamental colored surface which will form an attractive background for the contained flowers. In other instances a layer of cotton felt or other moisture absorbent material indicated at 2B is stapled or adhesively attached to the surface of the insert and this may be sprinkled with water so as to keep the contained flowers in a moist condition. If desired, a small pellet of solid carbon dioxide may be introduced into the insert which on evaporation will cool the interior of the container and generate carbon dioxide which will expel the oxygen of the air from the container so as to assist in preserving the condition of the contained flowers.

In Fig. 3 an alternative form of insert is provided consisting of a bottom 2i having merely two side flaps 22 and 23 which have rounded corners. In the use of this insert the side flaps are folded upwardly and the insert is introduced into the bag in such a position that the upwardly bent side walls or side flaps 22 and 23 occupy positions against the inner sides of the end walls of the bag, thus resisting collapse of these walls. In this form of construction the plural thicknesses of the bottom of the bag H are relied upon to possess sufficient stiffness to resist collapse of the bag at the bottom. In this form of construction the insertmay be provided with an attractive colored surface or it may be equipped with a layer of cotton felt or other moisture absorbent material 24 to be used for the purpose previously described.

In Fig. 4 an alternative form of construction is illustrated consisting of a bottom 25 in which is cut out semi-circular flaps 26 and 21 which are bendable upwardly about score lines adjacent the edges of the insert. structlon, if a layer of felt is employed indicated at 23, the same is attached to the bottom 25 by attaching means such as staples 29 adjacent its center with the ends of the felt left free to permit of the upward bending of the side flaps 26 and 21. In this form of construction the height of the side walls or side flaps is but slightly smaller than the height of the end walls of the bag and the side flaps serve to hold the end walls of the bag against collapse as previously described.

The present invention lends itself admirably to the construction of a flower box, such as may be employed for delivering bouquets, such as for example a bouquet of roses. In such a construction the bag employed is a relatively long bag and may have inserted therein an insert such as is illustrated in Fig. consisting of a long bot tom Bil to which side walls 3! and 32 are bendably attached as well as, an end wall 33. This In this form of coninsert.

insert when the side and end walls are bent upwardly fits within the cellophane bag and holds it fully extended forming a type of flower box having a transparent top through which the contents of the container are readily visible. At the same time during delivery the relatively stiff side and end walls effectively resist collapse of the container. The insert shown in Fig. 5 may be equipped with moistenable cotton felt or if desired it may be given any other neat and attractive appearance whichwill form a suitable background for the bouquet. If desired, the florist may have his name imprinted thereon.

From the above-described constructions it will be appreciated that an improved flower container is provided which permits the contents of the container to be readily inspected yet effectively forms an easily set up, non-crushable, box or container which will properly protect the contained flowers.

When the individual blossom or a bouquet or 'corsage is positioned in the container it may be anchored or fastened in place therein by stapling across the stem or into the bottom of the The cardboard or paper-board of the insert is sufficiently strong to prevent the staple from tearing loose during ordinary handling of the container, yet when it is desired to remove the flowers from the container it still can be readily pulled from beneath the staple.

Various changes may be made in the details of construction without departing from the spirit or scope of the invention as defined by the appended claims.

I claim:

1. A shipping container of the class described, comprising a Cellophane bag, an insert adapted to be positioned therein formed of relatively heavy cardboard of substantially the same width as one side of the bag, side panels stamped out of the body of the cardboard and foldable from its plane about score lines arranged adjacent edges of the cardboard.

2. A shipping container of the class described, comprising a Cellophane bag, an insert adapted to be positioned therein formed of relatively heavy cardboard of substantially the same width as one side of the bag, side panels stamped out of the body of the cardboard and foldable from its plane about score lines arranged adjacent edges of the cardboard, and a layer of moisture absorbent material secured to the insert adjacent the center thereof having detached ends permitting the side panels to be folded upwardly and the moisture absorbent material to then cover over the holes left by the side panels.

3. A shipping container of the class described, comprising a collapsible Cellophane bag and an insert adapted to be positioned therein having a bottom of substantially the same width as one side of the bag and having side panels foldably attached thereto which are in height but slightly less than the width of the end walls of the bag thereby holding the end walls of the bag against collapse.

4. A shipping container of the class described comprising a collapsible Cellophane bag and an insert formed of relatively heavy cardboard adapted to be positioned therein, said insert having a bottom of substantially the same width as one side of the bag and having side panels foldably attached thereto which are in height but slightly less than the Width of the end walls of the bag thereby holding the end walls of the bag against collapse, and a layer of moisture absorbent material attached to the bottom of the insert.

5. A shipping container of the class described comprising a collapsible, Cellophane bag and an insert formed of relatively heavy cardboard adapted to be positioned therein, said insert having a bottom of substantially the same Width as one side of the bag and having side panels foldably attached thereto which are in height but 10 slightly less than the width of the end walls of the bag thereby holding the end walls of the bag against collapse, and a layer of moisture absorbent material attached to the bottom of the insert, said insert having an end panel foldably attached to the bottom thereof which is in height but slightly less than the bottom of the bag, said end panel being adapted to be positioned against the bottom of the bag.

BUFORD W. HALL. 

